Ifie Sekibo, MD/CEO Heritage Bank Plc smiles with satisfaction as the bank is buzzing with ideas and activities aligned to the future. The fact that the Nigerian authorities place so much importance on economic diversification away from a reliance on just the oil/gas sector to other areas like agriculture value chain, industry, tourism to technology with their eyes firmly on the future excites Sekibo. Looking at the government ERG agenda, he realises that the country has clearcut plans to becoming one of the world’s leading nations by around 2030.Then he makes the bank partner with businesses, great and small, to enhance their productivity and value creation.
Sights set on helping businesses succeed and the future, the presence of Heritage Bank Plc on the Nigerian banking landscape is a positive and timely intervention to propel the economy into more productivity. It also limits any negative impact on the government’s goals in maintaining fiscal sustainability and economic development in the long term leading to the government’s development Vision.
Sekibo is a trend setter passionate with financing revolution in Nigeria. And his character is rubbing on Heritage Bank’s brand, with a lot of strategic partnerships with government(s) and private organizations.
Heritage Bank is passionate about helping businesses grow on all fronts with its different initiatives to deliver banking solutions that empower SMEs as they deliver products and services solutions to the public. This is because it recognises that SMEs stimulate growth and development within an economy. And it is at the forefront of helping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deliver its programmes to the people.
Under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Heritage has been providing on-lending funding to aggregated farmers to grow various products that serve as raw materials to the processors, thereby ensuring market linkages and access to the market as well as reduce importation and conserve Nigeria’s external reserves.
Through its strategic partnerships with government and private organisations, the bank has continued to make efforts to transforming the nation’s economy through championing entrepreneurial schemes for businesses and the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is not left out. Its focus is on dependable job-creating sectors, such as education, agricultural value chain (fish farming, poultry, snail farming), cottage industry, mining and solid minerals, creative industry (tourism, arts and crafts), and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Over a year ago, Heritage launched the Nationwide Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold & Precious Metals which stands to create new opportunities for Nigeria to grow its potential reserves of 200 million ounces of gold. The Nationwide Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold & Precious Metals Buying Centre will fast-track 10per cent contribution of mining sector to GDP by 2026. Referring to this giant strides, the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo remarked back then that the launch of this project between Heritage Bank and ‘Dukia Gold SPV’ would enable Nigeria to mine reserves properly, trade responsibly, refine locally and boost the nation’s foreign reserves.
Mr Sekibo is making so much happen at Heritage Bank, supported by a very solid board and a vibrant management team. Under their collective watch, the bank is showing a lot of commitments to create enabling environment, resources and support required to innovate and accelerate impactful solutions with the potential to radically improve financial inclusion/intermediation, health, automobile, agriculture, and other related problems affecting critical sectors of the economy.
In terms of the agricultural financing revolution, Heritage Bank is firing on all cylinders. In order to support the real sector and unlock food potentials, Heritage Bank Plc has provided over N5billion long term facility under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) to Triton Aqua Africa Ltd (TAAL).
TAAL known as Triton Farm accessed the CACS through Heritage Bank, which was used to set up aquaculture businesses; nursery/hatchery to produce fingerlings and brood stock in Ikeja and earthen ponds for catfish and Tilapia in Asejire, Iwo and Gambari towns in Oyo State.
Under the arrangement, TAAL will also help small-scale farms increase their fish production by making fingerlings available to them. In the short term, the loan is expected to help Triton double its current production capacity of 25,000 metric tonnes with a projection to scale it up to 100,000 metric tonnes in five years.
The bank also has thrown its weight behind Globus Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Triton Group, to flag off the second phase of afforestation programme in Oyo state.
Nigeria’s demand capacity for fish was estimated at 2.7million metric tons and the country currently produces 800,000 metric tons. Triton is now producing over 25,000 metric tons and with them on board, over 25,000 metric tons capacity will be added to our current production, the company’s projection is to exceed 100,000 metric tons in 5years.
At the state level, Heritage Bank entered into partnership with the Oyo State government in a multi-billion-naira project to give agriculture a boost. Under the initiative, the bank supported the Oyo State Agricultural Initiative, OYSAI, a programme designed to revive agriculture, boost agro-allied businesses and massive empowerment programme for both youth and women across the state through the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector.
This huge, albeit laudable, project that is spread across 3,000 hectares of land in 28 of the 33 Local Government Areas of Oyo State is in three stages: food crop cultivation, cash crop/horticulture, and food processing. Heritage Bank is supporting agro investors involved in this initiative with funds and advisory services and indications are that the programme has already led to more than 30 per cent increase in food production in the state.
The Bank has also supported thousands of small holder farms in Kaduna and Zamfara states to benefit from the bank’s financial support for rice and soya beans production under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).
Equally, Heritage Bank’s role in GEZAWA Commodity Market and Exchange Ltd is a big testimony of the bank’s commitment to agriculture. With this particular initiative, the Nigerian agricultural sector is set to witness a huge growth, as Heritage Bank Plc the lead settlement bank for Gezawa Commodity Market (GCMX) has collaborated with key stakeholders to revolutionise agricultural value-chain, aimed at providing fully integrated ecosystem for commodity Exchange.
Heritage Bank was appointed as the Lead Settlement Bank and Transaction Adviser to the Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Ltd. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two firms last year, with over 10, 000 farmers in 3000 cooperatives in the 44 local governments of Kano States hosted. The partnership between the bank and the Exchange would facilitate the ease of agro commodity trading in a more structured way, especially with the closeness to the Dawanu, the largest grain market in Africa.
The MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc, Ifie Sekibo, who was a panelist at the 2nd GCMX Farmers’ Cooperative Forum in Kano then, stated that the partnership was targeted to de-risk the sector that would bring about structured and enhanced agro-business and attain food security that leads to economic development.
Sekibo, who was represented by the Executive Director, Jude Monye explained that the partnership which would help bridge the huge gap associated to risk, will fast track effective price discovery mechanism and traceability and enhanced trade settlement services.
According to him, with its assigned position Heritage Bank would play a pivotal role in ensuring that there would be an effective and readily available platform for market linkages among players in the agribusiness value chain, involving FMCGs, warehouse operators, collateral managers, processors, farmers’ cooperatives to transact in a seamless way that guarantee quality, quantity, payment and delivery.
Speaking the event, the ED/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo, was confident that the initiative would help foster diversification of non-oil export trade, stating that NEPC would ensure that the primary for the signing of the MoU would be achieved, whilst calling for the need to ensure adequate and seamless supply of agricultural commodities for the business to be sustainable.
The Gezawa Project Consultant, Binchang Binfa, Managing Director of Makarios Global Resource, disclosed, “the ultimate goal was to unlock the vast potential of agricultural value chain via partnerships and synergy with likeminded enterprises, organisations and institutions that will mutually create wealth, generate local employment and contribute significantly to the economic growth and GDP the nation.”
He stated that the Exchange would provide services on price discovery and transparency, increase foreign exchange earning capacity, commodity storage and warehouse receipt system, employment generation of 15, 000 direct and indirect jobs, investment opportunities, increase in non-oil export, ease of doing business, weather report, soil test report, as well as 24/7 online trading of commodities on a live trading platform.
Apart from all mentioned above, Heriatage Bank has continued to support Nigeria’s aspiration and roadmap to become a leading Information Communication Technology (ICT) Hub in Africa, The Bank gave out the sum of $40, 000 grants to winners of the maiden edition of HB Innovative Lab.
Worthy of note is the bank’s giant stride in support of tourism, aimed at boosting Nigeria’s tourism via creative arts industry through support and sponsorhip. Its commitment to the development and growth of the creative industry is quite encouraging, where it holds monthly draws.
Heritage Bank has continually fulfilled its promises to support the Nigerian Creative Industry, as millionaires emerged from the YNSPYRE product in collaboration with the CREAM Platform.The Heritage Bank’s YNSPYRE event commenced on a great note when D’banj and CREAM Platform introduced the CREAM Merit winners for March, BERRI, a music artiste who carted away sum of N10million in form of promotional, while Clara Aden, a visual artist received N1million in financial support and Hanzy, a music artiste got over N1million Naira in form of mentorship support as well as Merchandise support from partner company – Boomplay.
For instance, the April Raffle Draw produced 10 lucky winners of N50,000.00 each while cheques of N200,000 each were also presented to 5 Winners from the March 2021 Draw.
The epoch-making event, held at the Balmoral Hall of Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos had in attendance alongside Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Heritage Bank – Fela Ibidapo; Dapo Oyebanjo a.k.a D’banj and his partner – Oje Anetor; notable dignitaries from different walks of life – Director General of the National Lotto Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila and Stanley Mukoro. Also present at the draw were – Sunday Are, Chief Damian Okoroafor, Poco Lee, representatives of the NLRC, Boomplay and members of the media.
It is also at the forefront of Financial inclusion in Nigeria. The country’s central bank has set an ambitious target of attaining a 95% rate of financial inclusion in the population by 2024. This is currently around 63.2%. The financially excluded is over-represented by people in the informal sector, many doing jobs such as harvesting crops, mining or selling goods at markets.
They are usually paid daily and do not have bank accounts. Despite not wielding much financial power individually, together, they contributed 65% to Nigeria’s GDP in 2018, making them a group that holds a lot of untapped potentials. It’s no wonder that the government has made catering to this sector a priority. Heritage Bank Plc is doing this.
With all these activities and more, it is clear that Heritage Bank Plc is pushing productive efficiency by supporting businesses, corporations and SMEs, creating millions of direct and indirect jobs in the country, helping to tackle unemployment in urban, semi-urban and rural communities. By so doing, Heritage Bank is moving Nigeria forward on the watch of Ifie sekibo.
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